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Zhang Yimou Receives Lifetime Honor at Udine, Talks Talent Development and Perseverance: ‘I Doubt That I’ve Made My Best Possible Film Yet’
Zhang Yimou received a lifetime achievement honor at Udine and, in a masterclass, talked talent discovery, development and perseverance.
At a masterclass on Thursday morning, Zhang spoke of his filmmaking techniques and priorities, his enduring quest for the human touch and why not all films need to be masterpieces. The festival, which later in the evening presented him with its Golden Mulberry lifetime achievement award, described Zhang as “a filmmaker who had revolutionized the aesthetics of 1980s China,” a director who “pursued a free and total vision of cinema” and over the years has explored multiple genres, “from rural drama and wuxia to period thrillers and big budget blockbusters.” He pursues “a cinema where individual stories have always been a cultural, ethical and political mirror of collective history.” Zhang was at his most wry when talking about the big international stars such as Christian Bale in “The Flowers of War” and Matt Damon in “The Great Wall,” suggesting that their skills make them economical on set and their reputations are reassuring for investors.
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